Buses Back, But Subways Could Take Days Longer

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Foundations and pilings are all that remain of brick buildings and a boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.
Associated Press

By

Ted Mann

Updated Oct. 30, 2012 8:25 p.m. ET

Buses reappeared on some routes Tuesday afternoon, a first step in restoring New York City's public-transit system. But officials said restoration of full service, including the flood-damaged subways, could take several days or more.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials rearranged bus routes to reach more commuters and compensate for the closed subway system. They held out hope that some subway lines could be reopened quickly.

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A home that was destroyed along Rockaway Beach after the breakwater;
Jason Andrew for The Wall Street Journal

Diesel-powered pump trains were at work in tubes carrying the 2, 3, 7 and F lines under the East River, an MTA spokesman said Tuesday evening.

Earlier in the day, a high-ranking official said the operation had been hampered at times by limited electrical power south of 36th Street in Manhattan. Running the trains had been more difficult on the Manhattan side of the river, the official said, because there wasn't sufficient power to run ventilation fans to clear diesel fumes. An MTA spokesman disputed that account.

Floodwaters swamped seven subway tunnels connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens. Officials feared the brackish storm water that poured into subway tunnels and onto tracks could corrode vulnerable signal and switching systems, adding to the time workers will need to reopen the MTA's full system, which ferries 8.5 million passengers on a typical workday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said MTA bus service, which resumed Tuesday around 5 p.m. using a Sunday schedule, could return to full service Wednesday. No fares were to be charged either day, he said.

John F. Kennedy International Airport was expected to reopen Wednesday, the governor said, but La Guardia Airport would remain closed indefinitely. Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said workers were inspecting flood damage at La Guardia, including the possibility that a barge may have hit a dike protecting the low-lying runways from the bay.

"There was flooding on the east end of the airport right now and possible damage to the north dike," Mr. Foye said. "An assessment was made beginning at dawn this morning about the damage. That assessment is ongoing."

Sandy and the storm surge that flooded much of downtown Manhattan was described Tuesday by MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota as the most devastating in the 108-year history of the city's subway.

Floodwaters filled the South Ferry subway station to the ceiling, Mr. Lhota said. Elsewhere, waters rushed into two of the four tunnels used by the Long Island Rail Road, Amtrak and NJ Transit under the East River between Manhattan and Queens.

Repair crews would try to restore some LIRR and subway service by Wednesday, Mr. Lhota said, but the MTA gave no timetable. "If there are parts of the subway system we can get up, we will get them up," he said.

New Jersey's public-transit system was suspended indefinitely, with flooding at Hoboken, Secaucus and Newark Penn stations—all major transit hubs that also link commuters with Manhattan. Power lines and trees fell on transit rail routes across the state and the storm surge damaged bridges.

Bus service could be restored sooner than rail, an NJ Transit spokesman said, since bus facilities only suffered minor damage.

None of NJ Transit's 11 commuter rail lines was spared, Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday. "There is major damage on each and every one," he said, as crews began inspecting the 500 miles of agency-owned track.

Regional air travel also was curtailed. All four of the Port Authority's New York City airports remained shut Tuesday.

New York-area commuter railroads were similarly crippled, Mr. Lhota said. The Metro-North was without power from 59th Street in Manhattan north to Croton-Harmon on the Hudson Line, and as far as New Haven on the New Haven Line.

Drivers regained access to Manhattan on Tuesday. The George Washington, Goethals and Bayonne bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing controlled by the Port Authority were reopened to traffic; the Lincoln Tunnel remained open through the storm.

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